A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - Issue No. 10

This is pretty cool.  And if you're a Texan you'll definitely want to share this.  A gentleman by the name of Nathan Hoang used to live in Texas for 25 years.  He started to get a little homesick so he took on a project he hopes to continue for the 50+1 states.

He listed all the things he missed about Texas and made it into a poster.  A "Love Letter" to his home state.  He's also made a video and explains why he would like to call his project "HOME".  Feel free to check this out on his kickstarter page.

It's been 3 months since I posted an issue of "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words", so for those who haven't seen my previous issues I started this series as a way to introduce my readers to the world of art through words.  And by words, I mean where the artist has taken several hundred pieces of text and created a masterpiece; it could be a self-portrait, landscape or still-life.  It's called Typographical Art, much like a typographical quote you see posted on a Facebook news feed from time to time. But with hundreds, if not thousands of words instead of just a few.

An iPad Finger Painting Masterpiece

The Mona Lisa of the North, or better known as the "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is an oil on canvas painting created by artist Johannes Vermeer in 1665.  But today I'm actually blogging about Japanese artist, Seikou Yamaoka and his amazing video.  Using his iPad Mini, Yamaoka created a near-perfect reproduction of Vermeer's painting which is pretty darn cool.  Check it out.

Sesame Street Characters Reimagined as Horror Film Icons

New York artist Isaac Bidwell created a series of illustrations titled, Puppet Massacre, where he re-imagined several Sesame Street characters as horror film icons.  Check them out, they're pretty cool.   I especially love Elmo as Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street series and Big Bird as Pinhead from Hellraiser. LOL.

Source: Isaac Bidwell

Airigami Dinosaur

Man, I thought the balloon twisted Buzz Light Year I posted on Monday was crazy cool, but this has got to cut the cake.  Talk about taking balloon twisting to a whole new level.

Watch this awesome time-lapse video of 20-foot balloon acrocanthosaurus come to life, created alongside plants and insects.

The geniuses behind this tumultuous task are a group of artists who call themselves Airigami. Check out their website, it's pretty darn cool.

The Joys of Being a Parent: I’m The Mom That Draws On Napkins

And the award for "Best Mom" goes to....

Nina Levy

You may remember, last week the award went to David Laferriere for being the best dad ever!  He earned the award because of the many drawings he creates on his kid's sandwich bags.  Well, now there's Nina Levy, who is an absolutely amazing artist.  She creates these magnificent drawings that are out of this world.  And she's been doing them every night for the past 6 years!

I have been drawing pictures on napkins for my sons' lunch boxes every night for the last six years. I usually get requests, although they are sometimes hard to fulfill- "I want Nightwing and Kid Flash blowing up the Brotherhood of Evil while Batman and Superman watch." Read More

Check these out! 

 8 More Napkins After the jump...

Lil' Mad Men

These drawings are just too cute. If you're a Mad Men fan you know who all the characters are. Artist, Jon Defreest created this for Vulture.  And while you're at it, you may want to look at the Mad Men Barbies I posted last year.

Post-it Note Arcade - Stop Motion Animation

So this is pretty darn cool.  Using 4,800 Post-it Notes, Michael Birken took 5,722 still images and created a stop-motion masterpiece.  The film is derived from two of his favorite childhood arcade games, Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros..

According to his YouTube page, Michael posted the notes on various walls in his office and took shots one frame at a time.  It took him over 11 months to complete.  

It is really fun to watch, check it out.  It reminds me of that other fabulous Post-it note creation I posted 2 years ago, "The Power of Love".

The Shadow Dancer - Diet Wiegman

I spotted this crazy video online today and was fascinated by the artist behind it.  Diet Weigman takes piles of junk or objects of no importance and turns them into a work of art.  But it isn't the junk that creates the art, it's the shadow the rubbish portrays on the screen or wall.

When lit, the images of Michael Angelo's David, miscellaneous objects or various people appear before your eyes.  Video below.

Medical Masterpieces by Sarah Hargis

Regardless if you're in the medical profession or not, I highly recommend looking at these amazing drawings made by Sarah Hargis.  I had previously seen The Brain and The Nervous System but now she's gone and created The Human Heart, and I had to blog about her. 

Sarah is just a regular gal like you and I, she's a grad student at Virginia Tech and during her spare time she likes to draw and do "crafty things".  If you read her profile, she states that she drew these diagrams as a study guide for a friend of hers who is in medical school.  Personally, I can see this becoming really huge - really, really huge.  So I'm glad to be one of the first to blog about her. :-)  She recently created a site on Etsy and is now selling her Medical Masterpieces.  

Keep them coming Sarah!

 

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry in LEGO!

This is for you LEGO fans or anyone fascinated by anything made with LEGO bricks.  Alice Finch built this amazing, amazing replica of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry from the Harry Potter series.  It is absolutely stunning, and the amount of time she spent creating this masterpiece is almost unheard of.  She recently won the "People's Choice" and "Best in Show" award for this spectacular project.

Using 400,000 bricks, she created every nook and crevice you could think of.  From the Great Hall to the Quidditch Courtyard, Hospital Wing, Clock Tower and The Bridge.  I've included a few pics, but you can read more about Alice and her interview with The Brothers Brick here.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - Issue No. 9

The last issue of "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words" was nearly a year ago.  I know - that's crazy; March 13, 2012 to be exact.  

In either case, for those who haven't seen my previous issues I started this series as a way to introduce my readers to the world of art through words.  And by words, I mean where the artist has taken several hundred pieces of text and created a masterpiece; it could be a self-portrait, landscape or still-life.  It's called Typographical Art, much like a typographical quote you see posted on a Facebook news feed from time to time. But with hundreds, if not thousands of words instead of just a few.

A Man of His Word

Click on the image and then click on the image again to see every detail up close!

Today's issue is nothing short of amazing.  The artist known simply as Straye-Close spent over 150 hours creating this masterpiece.  Every whisker, every wrinkle, every feature uses a word describing something.  From the name, Morgan Porterfield Freeman Jr., movies he's been in, characters of the people he's played in those movies, awards he has won, and almost every quote he could find for those films.  Truly an extraordinary piece of art!

The Artist Who Hides In The City

Ever seen a camouflage artist?  If not, meet Liu Bolin.  Liu likes to paint himself to blend into any background imaginable.  See if you can spot him in any of these amazing pieces of art. They are pretty darn impressive.